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For Many Teens Formal Sex Education Is Too Late

Jim Liebelt

Jim is Senior Writer, Editor and Researcher for the HomeWord Center for Youth and Family at Azusa Pacific University. Jim has over 25 years of experience as a youth and family ministry specialist, and has been on the HomeWord staff since 1998. He has served over the years as a pastor, author, youth ministry trainer, adjunct college instructor and speaker. Jim’s culture blog and parenting articles appear on HomeWord.com. Jim is a contributing author of culture and parenting articles to Crosswalk.com. Jim and his wife Jenny live in Olympia, WA.

2014Apr 15

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Health experts have some simple advice for reducing the teen birthrate in the U.S. -- make sure teens learn about abstinence and birth control before they start having sex.

According to a study by researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among teen girls who were sexually experienced, 83% told interviewers that they didn't get formal sex education until after they'd lost their virginity.

Altogether, 91% of young women between the ages of 15 and 17 said they'd taken a formal sex education class that covered information about birth control or ways to say no to sex (and 61% said they'd learned about both). In addition, 76% of girls in this age group discussed one or both of these topics with their parents.

But timing is everything. The fact that most sexually active young women didn't get clued in about abstinence or birth control until after they'd had sex "represents a missed opportunity to introduce medically accurate information," the researchers wrote.

The study, published online in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, noted that:

--14.6% of 15-year-olds had ever had sex, including 8% who were sexually active in the previous three months;

--28.5% of 16-year-olds had ever had sex, including 16.5% who were sexually active in the previous three months; and

--38.6% of 17-year-olds had ever had sex, including 29.7% who were sexually active in the previous three months.

Only 15% of these teens used a birth control method that was deemed at least "moderately" effective the first time they had sex, including the pill, vaginal ring, IUD or hormonal implant. Another 62% used a "less effective" method, such as condoms, sponges, the rhythm method or withdrawal. The remaining 23% said they didn't use any type of contraception when they lost their virginity, the researchers reported.

Overall, the teen birthrate continued to decline, according to data from the CDC's National Vital Statistics System. In 2012, the birthrate hit an all-time low of 29.4 per 1,000 women between 15 and 19. (In 1991, there were 84.1 births for every 1,000 women in that age group.)